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Blenders in the Grass

Seven locations

This in-town chain gives a gentler
meaning to the phrase “liquid diet.” There are times in our poor
digestive system’s rocky history when it needs pampering with
something sweet and
pure and wholesome. Juice makes a good meal;
add protein powder and other healthy additives and you can
positively rocket. Blenders has been around town for many years,
and the voters want you to know.

Finalist Jamba Juice

Health Food/Nutrition Store; Wine Shop

Trader Joe’s

“It’s not just our health food,” said De la Vina’s manager Gavin
Grayson. “It’s the whole vibe of our stores. People love coming in
here.” And now that there are three TJ’s in the S.B. and greater
Goleta areas, it’s become familiar to most folks. “I don’t want to
say anything as dry as market-share, but people know us better now,
and because they do, they can see what great deals and quality
items we sell.”

Ye Olde Butcher Shop

4317 State St., 967-9213

“The funny thing is that we have condensed the meats,” laughed
Jennifer Fredericks. She and her husband, the former chef and
cooking instructor Charlie Fredericks, took over the
longtime-favorite store almost two years ago. “We realized that the
deli section was doing a lot better, so we cut down on the meat we
always carry. But I think people like us because we feature clean
meats without steroids and antibiotics, and we can get them
anything they want. We have a great clientele. Next year, though,
we want to win for our sandwiches, too,” she said.

Finalist Lazy Acres Market Inc.

Fresh Fish Market

Santa Barbara Fish Market

117 Harbor Wy., 965-9564

The place actually has two official names, according to owner
Brian Colgate. There’s the one listed above, which is new, and
there’s the original moniker, Santa Barbara Fishermen’s Market. The
latter name is the title of the Saturday morning,
boats-pulled-up-to-the-pier outdoor market that this store actually
hosts and promotes, too. “Our key element in everything we do is to
be the commercial fishermen’s outlet to the public. We want to keep
it local,” said Colgate, who is proudly moving into a bigger store
in the harbor in November. “Our motto is ‘High quality fresh fish
from the boat to you,’” he added. “But mostly we want the customer
always to leave happy.” (By the time you read this, reminds
Colgate, it’ll be lobster season in the breakwater.)

Finalist Kanaloa Seafoods

Gourmet Food Store

Lazy Acres Market Inc.

302 Meigs Rd., 564-4410

Rudy Chavez is a 12-year employee and director of the part of
the store that leans a little more toward the gourmet than to the
stereotypical health-food purist. He chooses many items that are
one-of-a-kind in S.B. — like the virgin olive oils, vinegars, and
all that cheese. What’s new and exclusive this year is a food
called battarga, which was suggested by a customer who had tasted
it in a restaurant in Italy. It is dried mullet roe that was grated
onto his pasta, and the customer was wild for it. “I searched and
searched, and I found it,” said a proud Chavez. “It’s really kind
of expensive, but we’ve developed a small dedicated following for
the stuff.” Can’t wait to taste it.

Finalist Trader Joe’s

Produce/Greengrocer; Flower Shop

Farmers Market

See The Week for days and locations There’s one
somewhere nearly every day of the week, if you’re willing to travel
from Carpinteria to Goleta. The produce and the flowers and the
booths and the wandering customers nodding to live music and gentle
offers to taste the wares puts one in mind of the village faire
from ye olde era. But the bottom line is its buckets and stands of
just-picked, mostly organic, and reasonably priced food from local
farmers, along with flowers sweet to smell and lovely to behold.
You’re thinking global, but sniffing local now.

Jeannine’s Bakery

“Jeannine” became synonymous with quality baked goods starting
in 1985. Since then, it has become the quintessential corner
bakery, with its products popping up in other shops around town.
There are now two Jeannine’s restaurants and it is also the
resident bakery inside Gelson’s Market on upper State Street. It is
a family-run business, according to Gordon Hardey. “We just brought
in my sister and my parents and lifelong partner Richard
Sanchez — the people who make Jeannine’s.” And yes, they still sell
900 scones per day which go very well with Peet’s coffee.

McConnell’s Ice Cream

201 W. Mission St., 569-2323

Three months ago, our town’s iconic sweet shoppe changed hands.
Bob Moss, lifelong award-winning restaurateur, and his spouse,
Jean, decided to fill their golden years running the kind of place
that could make them proud. It just so happened that the building
was on the market and after upgrading the exterior, hiring new
staff, adding European coffee and low-fat yogurt, and not touching
the recipe of our beloved gourmet ice cream, they’re ready. And one
more thing: “My stock-in-trade has always been generous servings,”
said Moss. “So we think customers will be even happier.”

Finalist Cold Stone Creamery

Place to Get Fresh Bread

Our Daily Bread

831 Santa Barbara St., 966-3894

Our Daily Bread had a fire last year, and it only keened the
local appetite for its baked goods. All over town, the return of
ODB was heralded with joy, and stores featured signs reading “Our
Daily Bread Is Back.” You like the multigrain, I like the big
baguettes. For the contented crowds who nosh on their lunch and
enjoy their coffee breaks there every day, the return of our
readers’ longtime favorite has bred a lot of good will in the neighborhood.

Finalist D’Angelo Bread

Doughnut Shop

Spudnuts

222 W. Carrillo, 899-2779; 3629 State St., 569-3719

The name is funny and pretty catchy, too. Their sinker’s
reputation throughout the years has stayed remarkably solid, when
you think about it. Through fads as various as low-cal, no-carb,
whole foods, and even the bagel invasion, the doughnut is still
where America meets for a quick bit of pleasure — from the police
on the beat to the Friday office treat, it’s been fried dough
shaped like a tire smeared with frosting and jelly. And Spudnuts in
our town is the proclaimed cynosure of devoted dunkers.

Finalist The Eller’s Donut House

Bagel Shop

Jack’s Famous Bagels

5050 Carpinteria Ave., Carpinteria, 566-1558; 53 S. Milpas St.,
564-4331; 3891 State St., 563-2524 There are three of them, and
it’s tough to imagine a chain that harbors such internal
dissimilarities. For instance, the bagels from the homey,
high-ceilinged Carpinteria store seem much flatter than the supply
racing out of the hopping Milpas Street emporium. The shop inside
the Galleria, Barry Berkus’s architectural jewel near La Cumbre and
Five Points, features big bagelwiches that are the shop’s
lifeblood. Whatever store the readers love, though, there’s no
question that all give us the best and most bodacious bagels and
bialys in town.

Finalist Bagel Café

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